Porous materials, methods of making and uses

Abstract

The present specification discloses porous materials, methods of forming such porous materials, biocompatible implantable devices comprising such porous materials, and methods of making such biocompatible implantable devices.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A biocompatible implantable device comprising a porous material made by a process comprising the steps of:
 a) fusing porogens to form a porogen scaffold comprising fused porogens;   wherein substantially all the fused porogens are each connected to at least two other fused porogens;   b) coating the porogen scaffold with an elastomer base to form an elastomer coated porogen scaffold;   c) curing the elastomer coated porogen scaffold; and   d) removing the porogen scaffold from the cured elastomer, wherein porogen scaffold removal results in a porous material, the porous material comprising a three-dimensional, substantially non-degradable, biocompatible, elastomer matrix defining an array of interconnected pores.   
     
     
         2 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the porogens are polylactide-co-glycolide (PLGA) porogens. 
     
     
         3 . The device of  claim 1  wherein the porogens are polycaprolactone porogens. 
     
     
         4 . The device of  claim 1  wherein the step of fusing comprises mixing a suitable amount of polylactide-co-glycolide (PLGA) porogens or polycaprolactone porogens with a suitable amount of hexane and heating the mixture to allow the porogens to fuse and the hexane to evaporate. 
     
     
         5 . The device of  claim 1  wherein the step of removing the porogen scaffold from the cured elastomer comprises contacting the cured elastomer/porogen scaffold with methylene chloride, chloroform, tetrahydrofuran, or acetone. 
     
     
         6 . The device of  claim 2  wherein the step of removing the porogen scaffold from the cured elastomer comprises contacting the cured elastomer/porogen scaffold with methylene chloride, chloroform, tetrahydrofuran, or acetone. 
     
     
         7 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the device is a breast implant. 
     
     
         8 . The device of  claim 1  wherein the porous material has a porosity of at least 40%. 
     
     
         9 . The device of  claim 1  wherein the porous material exhibits an elastic elongation of at least 80. 
     
     
         10 . The device of  claim 1  wherein the porous material comprises a silicone-based elastomer. 
     
     
         12 . The device of  claim 1  wherein the porous material exhibits an ultimate strength of at least 1 MPa. 
     
     
         13 . The device of  claim 1  wherein the porous material exhibits a flexural strength of at most 50 MPa. 
     
     
         14 . The device of  claim 1  wherein the porous material exhibits a compressibility of at most 30 kPa.